Hey All,
I'm getting a lot of nice notes from those not selected and I do appreciate it. Having to tell a perfectly good pilot that I don't have a spot for them is the worst part of this job. I'm also getting questions like "why wasn't I selected?, what could I have done differently" etc. It's just not practical for me to do an individual critique on every resume. Please believe me when I say that very very few applicants were "disqualified". Sure, there were a few that misspelled the name of my company or didn't follow the application instructions (lack of attention to detail is kind of a big deal to me) but almost all of the resumes/applications were well qualified and I would have at least done a phone interview with every one if I had 71 seats available. I had to split hairs to whittle 71 down to 6 hired and 6 in the pool. I have a somewhat scientific scoring system for applications that classifies them into tiers based on the needs of my company and my 8 years experience doing this job. No single thing can make or break you - not even a single DUI or misdemeanor arrest. I also had someone ask if I hire women. I hire what I think are the best candidates for my operation, regardless of gender, race, religion or anything else that has nothing to do with job performance. Right now, having a multi rating and especially an MEI and 40+ multi hours with some Aztec time is an edge because we will be growing the Aztec fleet this year and I would rather promote from within. I need trainers in order to qualify pilots for the insurance mins. Once I have plenty of twin pilots then maybe that's not a big factor any more. And yes there is an advantage to having 500 hours tt as opposed to 250 but also as opposed to having over 1000. Some of my hires had no multi rating and some had bare minimum hours but had other positives that evened the score out. Don't over-think it folks, just try to be a great pilot and do everything right and it will fall into place eventually. Believe me, employers find the cream of the crop eventually. I'd also encourage you to continue to submit updated resumes throughout the season. As much as I hate turnover during the season, it does happen and we still have at least 4 more seats opening this season as the last two 172s and first two Aztecs go online. Thanks, everybody!